The Fanning of the Flame
by Kujata
Summary: The "Alchemist Killer" is high on the loose and Roy Mustang must send out his endangered State Alchemists to solve trifle affairs. Ed and Al are forced to team up with Major Armstong to solve these cases.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The 'Alchemist Killer' is high on the loose and Roy Mustang must send out his endangered State Alchemist to solve trifle affairs. The Colonel must send Fullmetal and Alphonse to what appears to be their doom, but can it be so?

As normal with my stories 'blah' means that the designated character is thinking. This story mostly focuses on the man who keeps on killing alchemists (I can't remember his name, if anyone knows, please leave it in a reply). O, the town, Treissgad, is made up; so don't ask if it was ever mentioned in the show. A beta reader is checking this story. This basically means that if a reader is going to flame me, find something better to flame me on then the words and such that I use. (Sorry, flamers piss me off.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, but I think it's a great anime. If I was to ever meet the person who did make it, I think I'd become a brand new stalker (j/k)

Chapter 1

**Central**

Roy Mustang sat at his desk, trying to dismiss the newest migraine and the newest pile of paper on his desk. It had been two weeks since he had last heard from Fullmetal and he finally thought he had pushed them to hard.

'Why didn't I order him to stand down? That area had already been checked multiple times by my troops and not a trace of the stone was found. What would I do if my best

alchemist was to be killed all over some "misunderstanding"?

"Sir…"

'Ever since the so called "Alchemist Killer" showed up there have been all of these meager obstacles in our way. We haven't been able to even begin on trying to locate him.'

"Mustang!"

"WHAT?"

"You don't need to worry about them, sir, you know that," a young, sweet voice said from in front of the Colonel's desk.

"I know, but at times I can't help but worry, Lieutenant," he stated calmly. "What is it?"

"Another killing has been sighted, sir."

"Where?" He stood up and began to walk out of the room with the Lieutenant in toe.

"Very close to here, sir. Only a few miles to the east, it was in Treissgad."

"It was that close?"

"Unfortunately. The General will be calling soon to try and organize some plans. It almost seems that the killer is just toying with us, doesn't it, sir? Forcing us to show some type of sign, a flaw."

"It's beginning to look that way. Fullmetal should be back soon," he stated, almost too half-heartedly.

"Yes, why, sir?"

"Send him to investigate."

"Sir?"

"Who knows what those boys will see. Maybe they can find something out that the rest of us keep on missing, maybe they can lead us to him."

**Road to Central**

"Finally back at Central," Ed sighed. He stretched and placed both of his arms behind his neck, "and still no sign of the Philosopher's Stone."

"I know we'll find it, brother," Alphonse said, walking slightly behind his older brother, even though in appearance it didn't seem like that.

"We're running out of leads, Al."

They walked in silence. Neither one wanted to discuss the horror they left behind.

**Past/ A small valley-town**

Two days earlier, another fake of the stone was being made. But this mimic was almost identical, compared to power, as the real thing, but it required so much to be accomplished. The air, the land, the people, the animals and even the trees were drained because of this selfish power. And even more was lost.

Earlier, the town seemed almost normal. It had had no problems; it didn't even have the slightest troublemaker with in its walls. And then, three days before the brothers left, all hell broke loose.

The wind stopped blowing in the town and in the valley. The land and trees began to die; the people and animals began to suffer. The brothers weren't affected as easily because they hadn't lived in the poison that long, but the town people began to die.

The disease almost resembled leprosy, where the skin would literally peel away, revealing the soft tissue and the stringy muscles, leaving the person there, bleeding to death. What made this madness in the small town worse was the alchemist in charge of the chaos.

He had been gentle to the townspeople. He only used alchemy to help the people in any way. And then, from what the brothers were informed, he began to hide from the people. If he were ever seen away from his castle-like home, he would do so only at night, when all decent people were asleep. Inevitably, the alchemist faced the same death as the town's people. He finally saw the error of his ways.

**Present/ Road to Central**

"Brother…"

"Yeah, Al?"

"Why did he do that?"

"Why did who do what?"

"Krostein, the alchemist back there, why did he create the stone, only to kill everyone else and himself in the end?" He seemed almost as if he wanted an answer, and at the same time didn't want one.

"How the Hell would I know, Al?" Ed asked, exasperated. "Maybe he was sick or something."

"Alright, brother." Al seemed to think that Ed had something else on his mind and wouldn't indulge his brother.

**Central/ Some time later**

"Sir," the lieutenant said, "the Elric brothers are here to see you." She turned and stepped away, but she didn't leave the room.

"It's good to see that you two are back."

Ed nodded.

"Did you find anything that helped in your search?"

Ed nodded.

"And?" Colonel Mustang asked, trying to get some type of notion that Ed, was in fact, still alive.

"That it's so fucking possible to be so ignorant not to see that everything around you is dying just so you can have some new form of power," Ed replied. To Al, who knew Ed his entire life, it seemed that he was trying to blow off some steam that he had locked up inside of him.

"I'm lost Ed, please explain," the colonel calmly stated, knowing that Ed, too, was just trying to blow off some steam.

"An Alchemist, by the name of Krostein, was creating another duplicate of the Philosopher's Stone. This duplicate seemed to equal in power compared to the real thing. But it required the lives of everything around him, and to him, that was only a small payment for the power."

"Everyone was forced to suffer," Al softly added.

"It seems that where ever you two go, there is always something new to find," the Lieutenant said from the back of the room. Neither one of the brothers said a word. "And this is why the Colonel has a new miss-"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, that is enough," Colonel Mustang sharply stated.

"Yes, sir."

"I have a new mission for the two of you," the Colonel began. "It has been recently reported that a man, so far named the 'Alchemist Killer', is massacring alchemists by the day. We have all looked into this case and not one of us can find out anything that can give us some type of clue to where he is, who he is, or even where he will strike next. And since you two boys are good at finding new information-"

"Call it a streak of bad luck," Ed interrupted dryly.

"Call it what you will, Ed, but you two do seem to find out new things that the rest of us just pass over. This is why the two of you will be escorted by Major Armstrong to the town that was recently attacked by the 'Alchemist Killer', Treissgad."

"The Major?"

"Yes, the Major, do you have a problem with that, Ed?"

"No."

**Outside Roy Mustang's office**

"Brother…"

"Yeah, Al?"

"Why do you think the 'Alchemist Killer' is attacking so close to Central?"

"I'm not sure, Al."

"Could he know where it is?"

"I hope not, Al. That's the last thing we need."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I hope you all liked the last chapter, and I hope you all just love this one! Please leave a review. Reviews tell me not only that the story is liked, but also what people think about my story (Critics and all). There is a possibility that there is some spoiling, I say possibility because I have only seen the episodes on Adult Swim, so my knowledge on the show is somewhat lacking, and I'm not sure if the later conversations in this fan-fiction will indulge you readers in any way to information that isn't yet passed around on Adult Swim. The conversation at the inn is only an assumption of mine, and in this fan-fiction it is true in this story and possibly on Adult Swim. Well, on to Treissgad!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist… nor it's characters… … nor the arch-villain… so quite calling me! (j/k)

Chapter 2

**Gates of Treissgad**

"So, this is the place, Major?" Ed asked.

"Yes, boys, this is the city of Treissgad," he said, beginning to flex his ripe muscles.

Al turned his head down both of the streets, if they could even be called that, and saw only the broken walls of what seemed to be only the district of the slums.

"It all looks like the slums," Ed broke in.

"It does, brother," Al said, his eyes only making small crescent-moons in his helmet.

"That's not the point," the Major waved his arms in front of his face as if it was some sort of defense. "Let's head to the scene."

"Yeah," Ed said.

"Uh-huh," Al nodded. The squeaking of his "armor" could be heard all down the streets.

**Treissgad**

The people of Treissgad seemed to hide within small makeshift tents. Their heads were always covered with small woolen cloths, and they were normally bare foot. Whenever they saw the three foreigners traveling down the road they would try to hide or shrink into themselves mumbling one thing or another.

The sky over Treissgad was almost as dark and mysterious as the people. It seemed to always be dark and ominous. It was said that when it rained it didn't stop; when the droplets hit your head, it would hurt like acid, seething to the touch.

The Major lead Ed and Al to the area where the murder was committed, it looked just like every other corner they had passed. The closer and closer they came to the corner, the less and less people there seemed to be in the vicinity.

"This is it, boys," the Major shouted in his booming voice.

They had entered a small empty alleyway. Nothing lit its dark streets. On the wall was splattered blood from what looked like a design in some odd repulsive picture. On the floor next to the "painting" was a few rotting corpses, they had been there for a few days. Next to one of the corpses, a small metallic frame could be seen glinting off some light.

"Three civilians and one State Alchemist were caught here," the Major said to no one in particular.

"What was a State Alchemist doing here?" Al asked.

"He was gathering some information on the killer, the scarred-man. We have reason to believe that he found something very significant about the murderer, but he was never able to report back to Headquarters. He was calling the moment he died to tell the Colonel."

"And the civilians?" Ed asked.

"They were just bystanders who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, how tragic!"

"What is it that Mustang wanted us to see?" Ed asked, musing to himself. "It would have been a waste just to send us out here."

"He informed me to tell you to continue the alchemist's research, find out what he found out, Ed, see what he saw, hear what he" the Major said, trying to continue.

"We understand, Major," Al intervened.

"Why didn't he just tell me this!" Ed fumed.

"Ed," Al laughed, "you know that's not like him."

"Yeah, I suppose … that's just wishful thinking."

**An Inn in Treissgad**

Ed, Al, and Armstrong had entered an inn for the night. The inn was small and wooden for the most part. The host seemed very kind, but worried when he noticed that two of the three newcomers were State Alchemists, and the other one was a leviathan in armor. The Major told them to sit at one of the tables and he would handle getting their rooms and some food.

"Where do we begin?" Ed asked out of the blue, once he and Al had sat down at a table towards one corner.

"What do you mean, brother?" Al asked, as some food from their host was being placed in front of him. He pushed his bowl of rice towards Ed.

"Where do we start gathering the information, even just what the alchemist was studying?"

"Oh…I suppose we can ask Major Armstrong when he gets back."

At that instant, Ed and Al saw the Major strolling towards their table. "Well, speak of the Devil, Al," Ed said.

"What was that, lad?" the Major boomed, temporarily drawing all of the eyes in the inn to the small group.

Ed began speaking again when everyone was back to his or her meal, "What was this guy researching?"

"What guy are you speaking about, Ed?" the Major asked, baffled.

"The… um…Alchemist, Major," Al intervened.

"Ah, yes, you do recall that there have been a recent number of killings, not only in this town, but all around the area?"

"How can we not know about it? It's Scar," Ed whispered.

"Yes. He seems to leave a calling card wherever he kills. It's very sad. He seems to only be targeting alchemists, and most of those appear to be State Alchemists."

"We know all of this already. Get to the point, Major," Ed said, getting slightly annoyed.

"The Colonel believes that there is a reason behind 'Scar's' killings, and that was what the Alchemist was trying to figure out. How he is capable of killing with such great force, why he is killing, and why State Alchemists are his main target."

"Which one of those was the Alchemist reporting back to Headquarters?" Al asked.

"He found out why he was targeting Alchemists. I was told that when he called the Colonel, he was talking quickly telling him to temporarily leave his duty."

"You mean, take a vacation?" Ed asked, bemused.

"A long term of absence isn't exactly a vacation, Ed," Al stated.

"But the real question is, lads, why would any of this have to do with Colonel Mustang?" the Major asked for them.

An unfriendly silence swept their table. The silence was broken a few moments later as coughing took over.

"Ed, you really shouldn't eat your food that fast," Al laughed as he hit Ed's back pretty hard.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, brother, but you shouldn't eat that fast."

"Thanks mother!" Ed bellowed, a little too loud.

"Major, about that question, could the Colonel have done anything to Scar? I mean, we know that his older brother died in some type of war. Could the Colonel have done that?" Al asked, tilting his head.

"There was only one war that the Colonel was involved in…but…" the Major began, but died off on the last word.

"But what, Major?" Al inquired.

"He was such the CUTEST lad when he was young!"

Ed tried all he could not to fall and hit the floor, but somehow, he still managed to. "You're beginning to sound like Hughes!"

"He is," Al giggled.

"Anyways, boys, there was a war that the Colonel was involved in quite some many years ago, almost ten years, if I do remember correctly. He was only a lieutenant at the time. I believe you heard about this war before, if I'm not mistaken."

"What do you mean, Major," Al whispered.

"This is the same war that Marco's Philosopher's Stone was introduced in."

"What? Mustang was in that war?" Ed screamed. The occupants of the inn turned back to face the small group in the corner for a few moments and then they turned back to their meals.

"Yes, he was, Ed. He was one of the main players in that war. There were only a few, five if I believe, that were given a Philosopher's Stone to use in that particular war. Colonel Mustang was one of them. The war was very hard on the Colonel. From what I was told, there were many young people, about your ages, boys, which were killed in this war. Most of them didn't even know how to use the weapons that lay in their hands. That can explain why the Colonel sometimes acts the way he does."

"Who was the war against, Major?" Al asked silently.

"It was a race of people, the Ishbalen. They believed that alchemy was a sin, and thus for, never took up its teachings. Some alchemists believe that has made them barbaric, but it was not true. They were happy, and we played war with them, just over what they believed."

"Are … they all … dead?" Ed slowly asked.

"We have reason to believe that 'Scar' is one of the last remaining Ishbalen. You should finish up your meals boys and go to sleep, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

"Alright, Major," Al finished.

**Late that Night/In the Rooms**

"Brother?"

"Yeah, Al?"

"Do you think the Colonel was capable of killing someone …our age that many years ago?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, Al. It was a war after all."

"Would you have?"

"Would I have what, Al?"

"Would you have killed someone …my age, if you were in a war?"

"I probably wouldn't have cared who I killed if they were against me in a war."


End file.
